My first day back from fall break consisted of relaxing and laying around... not. I went down to A.C. with my mom, grandma, and step-grandmother (is that a word?) with plans to meet Tom, Foti, and Kris later.

We got there at about 1 p.m. My caravan doesn't really play much poker, so we stayed around the slot machines for awhile. Mom gave me $30 to play with, and I went around the quarter slots for a while, picking out machines that caught my eye. For some reason, I tended to gravitate towards the Red, White, and Blue machines.

Here's my feeling on slot machines. People that play them are half-dead zombies that derive no pleasure from them except for knowing that they are paying for the casino employees' meals. I was determined not to be one of these casino cadavers, so I put my own mark on playing the slot machines. First of all, I figure if you're going to play, you sure as hell better pull the arm, and not press a button to spin the reels. That's half the fun of it, anyway. Also, when playing with multiple credits, don't hit the Play for Max button. Hit the credit button two or three times, then pull it. Also, I firmly believe that these machines are cocky- they know they are going to take your money. Therefore, I try to intimidate them when I play. Each time I pulled the reels, I would yell some directive at the machine to get me a winner, otherwise bad things would happen to it. Some machines decided they were above being insulted, so they didn't pay me. I quickly left and played with their friends, instead. This all resulted in a nice run for myself, including hitting a red, white, and blue 7, although not in that order, because that would have paid a few grand. As it was, I ended up turning my $30 into $140 in about an hour. I highly recommend my method of playing slot machines to anyone willing to give it a try. You'll get some funny looks from the octagenarian crowd who don't like the youngens invading their domain, but they can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. You're there to win, right?

At about 3:30, I went down to the poker room of the Borgata, because I knew Tom and Foti would be there soon. I sat in on a $4-$8 Omaha hi-lo game with a full kill. For those who are wondering, a full kill means that if there is a scooped pot of over $60, the limits double, so it becomes an $8-$16 game. This happened more often than I thought it would, so we were usually playing for pretty high stakes, as it cost you $48 to see a pot through to the river, assuming it's unraised, which is unlikely. I had sat in with $140, not a ton of money considering the limits, but I also didn't want to burn all my money (I came down with $400) just playing Omaha, as it is well-known that my specialty is Texas hold 'em.

For most of you who don't play Omaha, or even limit poker for that matter, it's a very different animal than no limit hold 'em. Bluffing is near impossible, as there are frequently 6 players to a flop, and the bets don't get big enough to drive everyone out. It's also a "nuts" game, in that you frequently need the nuts, or at least very close to it, to win. If you play bad cards, it'll catch up to you. The real meat of the game is knowing when to call and when to get rid of your hand. Overall, I played well, but I ended up down $100 due to a couple rough hands.

The first nasty hand I got involved in was in a killed pot, so it was at $8-$16. I called the blind with ace queen jack 3, with the ace suited, a very nice hand because of its high and low qualities. There were about 5 of us on the flop. The flop was queen queen 10, giving my trips with an ace kicker. As great as this looks, I knew I still probably had to improve to a boat to win the hand. The big blind bet out 8, which was called by two other players. I also called. The turn was an ace, giving me queens full of aces. The big blind once again bet out, and one of the original callers stuck around. I raised it, making it 32 to play, and the original bettor called. I knew he was a good player, as he had been laying low most of the time and not chasing nonsense. The other caller folded. The river was a blank, so there was no low out there, and the only hands that could beat me were pocket kings or aces. The big blind checked, and I bet 16, pretty sure that I had the hand, and the $200 pot, won. He called, and I announced my boat. "That's no good," he said, and turned over pocket kings for kings full of queens. I was shocked, as I figured either of the hands that could beat me would have reraised on either the turn or the river, but I guess he must have somehow put me on pocket aces, probably because I waited until the turn to raise. Anyway, that put a big-ass dent in my stack, as well as my psyche, but I recovered pretty quickly.

A few hands later, I flopped the nut boat with queens full of jacks, and I took it down on the river. Unfortunately, it wasn't in a killed pot, so the pot was half the size it could have been. About twenty minutes later I lost a lot of money when I chased my nut low draw to the river in a killed pot. I held ace 2 4 5, a beautiful starting hand in hi-lo, and saw a flop of 3 6 10. This gave me a wrap straight draw, which is very powerful, as well as the nut low draw with no counterfeits. In front of me, the action got raised and reraised, and the betting was capped at $32 with 4 people involved. Already there was over $150 in the pot. The turn was a jack, so there still wasn't a low qualified on the board, and again the betting got capped at $64 this time. With 4 players involved, I had to stay around, as my pot odds were great, plus I figured the betting would again be capped on the river, whereas I could get out if I missed my draw. Also, I didn't figure anyone for having a low draw that could quarter me. It seemed like everyone was playing the high hand, with sets and two pair all over the place. The river paired the ten, so I didn't hit my low, and had to fold when it got around to me. Sure enough, one guy had pocket 6's, one had pocket 10's (for quads), and another had pocket aces (he was an idiot that didn't really know how to play, as pocket aces don't have quite the same value as they do in hold 'em, especially when that's all you hold in a big raised pot. This pot alone cost me $104 bucks, and I would have won about $250 had my damn low hit.

The final big hand that whacked me came when I had king king 2 3 and saw a flop. The flop was king 4 7, all hearts. I had top set, but I wasn't crazy about it, because certainly someone had a flush. The three players before me checked, and, being in late position, I threw out a bet to see where I stood. I got two callers, leading me to believe I was probably against a made flush and a low draw, but a part of me was hoping I was against two low draws. The turn was an offsuit queen, so the low hadn't qualified, and both players checked. I bet out again, hoping if someone had a low flush, he would dump it, plus I also wanted to make those low draws pay to chase. I got only one caller this time, and at this point I figured him for a low flush that he couldn't fold. It was this fat guy that looked like Mr. Belvedere. The river was something high, and again he checked. I checked it, knowing I wouldn't get called if he just had a busted low, but that a flush would call me. He flipped over the 10 6 of hearts for his gay flush, and my top set went bye-bye. Somehow after all this I still had $40 left, but I sat out with it because Tom and Foti had just arrived. Kris got there only a few minutes later.

Tom had gotten wind of a $100+$20 buy-in tournament over at the Taj, so the four of us decided to head over there. The tournament had 87 people in it, and we got $5000 in chips to start. The blinds were at $25-$50 to start, and they went up every 20 minutes. This didn't sound too bad, but they instituted an ante only three levels in, so you kind of had to get moving early. My first two hands, I had ace 7 and ace 8 suited. Each flop was something like king queen 2, so I folded right away. I also wanted to see what kind of table I was up against, and I quickly found out that it was mostly composed of maniacs. Raising, reraising, all-ins, it was all there within the first five hands. This one Chinese guy was going all-in like it was his job. I decided that I had to wait for some decent cards, as no one could get these people to fold anything, and I sure wasn't going to try.

In about the 6th hand, we had this sick hand at our table that got the attention of everybody in the card room. Giant fat guy (not Mr. Belvedere) next to me raised it preflop. Crazy Chinese guy and subdued Chinese guy next to him both called. The raise was something big, like $1000. The flop was 4 5 6, with two hearts. Crazy Chinese guy checked, so I already knew something was up, and I thought he may have hit a set. Subdued Chinese guy went all-in, and Dumpy next to me took a while agonizing, then decided to call, which put him all-in. Crazy Chinese guy immediately shoved his chips in the pot, and turned over his set of 4s. Subdued Chinese guy had a heart flush draw, and Dumpy had pocket queens, leaving him one out, the queen of spades, to win. The turn was a 3, leaving the set of 4s in the lead, but also putting an open-ended straight on the board. The river was an offsuit 7, so everyone had to play the board and split the pot. The whole table was in an uproar over that one.

About 30 minutes into it, I still hadn't gotten any cards, but I heard Foti go all-in behind me at his table. He had ace jack, and he was up against pocket 5s. The 5s held up, so Foti was our first casualty. I was getting blinded down, and I couldn't find anything to play. All I was getting was 10 3, queen 2, 6 2- nothing even remotely playable. Finally I got queen ten of clubs and came in raising, figuring I needed to make something happen. Dumpy called, and the guy behind Dumpy went all-in. He was the one guy at the table who had been playing tight like me, so I knew he had a hand. it got back to me, and I folded. Dumpy called with something retarded like ace 6, and the other kid had pocket aces. He doubled up and took a lot of money from Dumpy.

We had this guy moved to our table who I will call the Sea Captain. He was this big black guy with a U.S. navy hat on. He also didn't know what he was doing, and he called every single hand, regardless of his cards. He started picking up nasty hands like pocket tens and pocket 9s though, and when he didn't he was getting two pair with his 5 8 to whack people. It was amazing. Somehow he built a huge stack by playing doofus poker.

I still couldn't catch anything, and I was also having trouble concentrating because of this extremely smelly guy next to me. He seemed like he was Egyptian or Iranian or something, but one thing is for sure- he stunk. Every time he moved, a new pocket of stink came at me, and it was hard to deal with. Everyone out there, I know you love poker, but you need to take 10 minutes out of your day for personal hygiene- it's not too much to ask, and being smelly is just as bad, if not worse, than slowrolling someone or stealing their chips. Don't be smelly.

I somehow survived until the first break, having folded literally 16 hands in a row. During this span, I told the dealer, "If you give me 9-high, I'll go all-in, I promise." I really meant it, too. In that span of hands, I couldn't even find 9- high. At the break, Tom, Kris, and I went to go get some food, and we got some giant hot dogs from a little store outside the card room. Tom had a very nice stack, somewhere in the 12 grand range, while Kris had about what he started with, which was fine. I had 700 in chips, which wasn't good considering we were at 200-400 blinds with a 100 ante.

When we got back from the break, I told my new dealer, "Give me 9-high and I'll go all-in," just like I told the last dealer. On the third hand in, I finally got my 9-high, a 9-5 offsuit to be precise, and I lived up to my end of the bargain by going all-in. Easily the worst hand I've ever gotten all my money in with. I got called by Dumpy, who was still at my table. Actually, I think he raised, and the big blind called because he only had about 100 left. Dumpy had pocket queens, and the big blind had 10 6 off. The flop came 10 10 3, which meant I was drawing dead, but at least Dumpy was gonna get his queens cracked. I was done in about 50th place, having not won a pot the entire tournament. This marks my 2nd time in a 100 dollar buy-in tournament, and the second time I haven't won a hand in it due to the worst cards of my life. I milled around for a while, watching Kris and Tom. Tom was kicking everyone's ass at his table, while Kris was playing smart but not getting much in the way of cards.

Kris ended up bowing out in 28th, which wasn't so bad, and we stuck around to watch Tom for a little while. Finally, we got restless, though, and we went to play some on the side. I sat in a 1-2 no limit hold em game, and I had about 140. I played too timid early on, calling a couple bets I probably shouldn't have, but not playing my game and being aggressive. Finally, I told myself to play some good poker, and I limped with pocket 8s in early position. This Chinese guy raised it 15 bucks behind me, and I called. That was a pretty standard raise at the table, and didn't signify a monster. We saw the flop heads-up, and it came down 7 5 4. I had an overpair and an inside straight draw. I checked it to him, pretty sure he would bet out. He bet 25. I thought for about 10 seconds, decided he had high cards and was taking a stab at it, then I raised all-in for another 70 or so. He laid it down, so I took my first nice pot.

A little while later I picked up ace ten of hearts and I limped in in middle position. One guy raised it 15, and 5 others called it. I figured the pot odds were right, so I saw a flop. It came down 10 10 5, SO NICE. I checked it, because I knew someone would have to take a crack at it, plus there was a good chance someone had queen ten or something. The original raiser bet 25, and I was the only caller. The turn was a 3, and again I checked. He bet out 40, and I thought for a second then raised him all-in for another 45. He called and showed pocket jacks, and the river couldn't give him his two-outer. That was a really nice pot, and put me ahead since I had sat in.

Somewhere in all of this, a guy at my table that looked like the comedian Gallagher asked me, "Do you go to Carolina?" He asked because I had on my Carolina baseball jersey, my Carolina hat, and my school ring. I told him that I was a senior and he revealed that he taught computer science there. He then invited me to play in a game his friend ran in Chapel Hill, a 5-10 limit hold 'em cash game. I gave him my information so he could contact me, so that could be a break from the small buy-ins we play with in the dorms.

I ended up leaving with about 50 bucks more than I sat with, as I had gotten word that Tom was down to the final table. Tom ended up getting down to the final 5, where he went all-in with pocket deuces. He got called by king queen, and when the flop came down ace 2 4, we thought he was set. Running clubs on the turn and river gave the other guy a flush, though, and Tom was done. Had he won that pot, he would have been second in chips with a great shot at making the big money (First place got $3200). He got $440 for his efforts, which wasn't bad, but he had played for a while and was so close to hitting the big money that it kinds of hurt.

From there, we went back to the Borgata to play a little more. First we had dinner, where I took my first shot of Jack Daniels with my cheesesteak. After the numbness in my face wore off, I was good to go, but I had already been dealing with a big headache.

I sat in at another 1-2 no limit game, while Tom and Foti played 2-5 no limit. I didn't have the kind of cash to play in that game, plus I'm not crazy like them, so 1-2 was fine. Kris sat at another 1-2 table. My very first hand, I hit top pair and won about 40 bucks. A few hands later, I had pocket queens, came in raising 15 bucks, and was called by 3 guys. I was ecstatic when the flop was 2 5 7. I bet out 25 after two guys checked. The next one to act raised me 50, and I had a real decision to make. Had he hit a set? Or was he slowplaying bigger pockets? I decided my queens were good, and that he had just put me on ace king or something similar. I went all-in for another 100 or so, and he laid it down. My heart was beating like crazy after that one, but I played it right and took a nice pot. I soon got on a ridiculous cold streak where I again couldn't find anything to play. I didn't lose much, except for the meager blinds, but this went on for about two hours. I ended up sitting out up about 70 bucks, which wasn't bad and helped offset my tournament losses some.

While I was playing, Tom kept coming over to give me reports on his and Foti's play. Foti at one point was up to near $2,000, then he was down $800, then back up. I don't know how he can play his style and not lose his mind. I don't think I could handle swings like that on my bankroll. Tom ended up losing about $500, which was basically his tournament winnings. I ended up down $100 bucks, although that was after food and the $7 shot I took. That also didn't figure in the slot winnings, which I split with my mom. All in all, it was a good trip. I just wish I could get some decent cards in these big tournaments so I can rip people up like I know I can.

One more note- the players in Atlantic City are not that great. Everyone has this image of brutal games with experts everywhere down there, but it's not really true. In the tournament we played in, the players, on the whole, were very poor. The quality of play is much better in our Thursday game, I think. That's not to say that there aren't good players, because there are, but they are not the norm. Anyone going down there shouldn't be afraid if they know they can play. I think the reason people lose is because they're not used to playing with so much real money. The players themselves aren't anything to be scared of.